FIH Hockey World Cup 2023: Japan to get penalised for fielding 12 players

During the game between Japan and South Korea in the ongoing FIH Hockey World Cup, a bizarre incident has been reported. Apparently, 12 Japanese players were spotted on the field. The incident happened during the fourth quarter of the game. At the time, the Japanese side was rewarded a penalty corner. Thankfully for the Koreans, their opponents failed to score at the stage.

The Blue Brigade, South Korea won the game by 2-1. If the Japanese side had scored the game would have ended in a 2-2 draw. This could have been an unfair advantage for the East Asian side. Meanwhile, the tournament has taken note of the matter. On the other hand, the Japan team has apologized for their mistake.

“After the match, the FIH Officials – who have not spotted this situation at the moment – have spoken to the Japanese team who have explained that they hadn’t realised this at all and expressed their most sincere apologies,” the FIH said.

“The FIH Officials have also explained the matter to the Korean team” and the federation is “currently investigating the issue to establish how it happened.”

Shockingly enough, no match official during the penalty realized this mistake. Japan had withdrawn their goalkeeper in the last two minutes for an extra man up front. However, they still exceeded the regulatory 11 players on each side. The win gave the Koreans their first win of the World Cup. Japan, however, remain winless after two matches. The other two teams of Pool B, Belgium and Germany, played a thrilling 2-2 draw on Tuesday to wrap up the day’s fixtures.

Belgium lead Pool B on goal difference, but level with Germany at four points from two matches. Japan is already knocked out of the competition.